February 16, 2018 posts

February 16, 2018

If you're new to Art Journal Every Day, there is a short introduction here. All of the previous posts can be found archived here. Remember, it's just ten minutes of nourishing your creative self every day! No need to finish anything or even like it. If you've done some art journaling this week, use the hashtag #artjournaleveryday so that we can all take a peek. Even if you're not on social media, you can see everything (from twitter, pinterest, instagram, and facebook) that uses that hashtag here.

I leave my journal either out on my desk or tucked into my art caddy next to my desk. This means that I never have to reach far for it, whether I'm cleaning off a paintbrush from another project, or ready to write out some thoughts.

When I'm short on time or creativity, I simply stamp out the date and scribble a few thoughts for the day.

When I'm long on time, I draw and paint and stamp and play.

I don't try to make every page a masterwork. Well, I **do** try. But when it doesn't work out (which it usually doesn't), I'm okay with it and I simply flip the page and keep moving. My art journal needs to be a safe space to fail.

I use a lot of different things in my art journal, but my go to supplies are: stamps, markers and pens, and acrylic paint. I keep those supplies right at my fingertips on my desk since I know that's what I'll be wanting to use. However, I should note that those are not the supplies I started using when I first art journaled -- and they may not be the supplies I use in a few months or years. My art journal is a place for evolving and experimenting!

And now, here's a peek at a few pages from September 2017:

This page features a tag that didn't work out the way I expected. I was playing around with printing with watercolor and I didn't love the results. I chucked the tag into my big bin of collage material and when I was pulling this page together, I decided that I didn't hate the tag, so I glued it onto my journal page.

This border of circles and straight lines features a number of hand carved stamps. I love the look of pattern on pattern and always try to find ways to bring those complex images into my art journal.

I hate this face. I think it's so ugly. But you know what? That's fine. I'm just going to flip the page and keep moving.

On the left is a paint and marker drawing.

On the right is a page that I cut into a face.

To be clear: I cut the page into that face while it was in the journal, using the same method that I showed in my lace pages video.

And here's the other side of that face:

The mandala on the other side of the page was colored with Moonlight Pens:

I love the way they look on a black page!

I hope you enjoyed this peek into my art journal! Thanks for stopping by!